The MBTA is clinging to a two-strike policy for substance abusers even as a Herald review shows a staggering 54 bus drivers, train and trolley operators and others who failed drug and alcohol tests since 2006 still have a ticket to ride.

The Herald requested T substance abuse test results for the past three years after a pair of Green Line crashes last month. The trolley operators were both fired after failing drug tests after the accidents, including one in which a Boston College student was struck….

If you or I tested positive for drugs while driving our cars, we’d get a lot worse than a temporary suspension. Public union hacks get much favorable treatment. They should get worse. The vehicles they operate transport hundreds of people. If they cause an accident the vehicle they are driving weighs a hundred times more.

Thank you Sen. Hedlund for wanting to protect innocent citizens. Union boss Stephan MacDougall should be ashamed of himself for putting us at risk, and for refusing to comment.